Destiny: Light Makes Right
by Hawki
Summary: Oneshot: The Darkness had been defeated, and Earth had been saved. However, the fight wouldn't end there. With the Traveller revived, all of the galaxy would have to be saved from the Darkness's lingering influence.


_For centuries we feared the forces of Darkness massing against us. We sought to hide and cower beneath a broken god. No more. These Guardians show us what we are, what we have always been, and what we will be again. We are what remains of the Light…and we will not be stamped out._

The Speaker

**Light Makes Right**

It had been decades since the Great Crusade had begun.

Or at least she assumed it was decades, because out here, in the depths of space, it was hard to mark the passage of time. No rising and setting of the sun bar whatever worlds the Children of the Light stepped upon. Worlds they would never remain at, for the galaxy called for liberation from the forces of the Darkness. The Darkness tainted everything it touched. Earth itself had been tainted, and only through the actions of the Guardians had it been saved in the last battle. The moment where the Light triumphed, where the Traveller returned to glory, and where it was declared that they would never again suffer the depredations of chaos. Earth was the first world to be spared the Darkness, but would not be the last.

She remembered the day well. She, and tens of thousands of Guardians embarking to the ships that hung in orbit, the most revered among them given access to the Traveller itself. Once, there had been hundreds of their kind, but now, thousands. The people of the City had been infused with the Light. They would fight in the name of their homeworld. They would bring Light to the four corners of the galaxy, and show the Darkness that it would never again have dominion. That its servants would never again hold sway over any world.

That had been decades ago, or so she believed. The Awakening, it had been called. She vaguely remembered a time before, when she had been awoken in the lands that were once called Russia. When the floating orb that was still at her side had returned her to the world of the living, without name or memory. She had chosen a name then, but that name, that time, was long forgotten. Now, all that remained was the Crusade. All that remained was the task the Traveller had set its children. And here, on this world, its will would be done, as it had been done hundreds of times before.

The world was called Akallabeth. What its people called it she didn't know, and of course, it didn't matter. The people here had been tainted by the Darkness. The people here had fought the Children of the Light, and therefore, they were the enemy. The Traveller had willed it, and the Traveller's will was obeyed. The Darkness could not be allowed to fester in any corner of Creation. By standing against it, they damned themselves, and those who were damned could not be saved.

The Traveller had ever been the herald of the Light, descending through the clouds of Akallabeth as it had on Earth centuries prior. The people here had not raised finger above it, but had instead gathered at its base, while their flying machines surrounded the sphere. Their duplicity was seen through, for they meant the Traveller harm, and by extension, meant the Children of the Light harm as well. The Traveller had struck first, sending holy fire through air and onto the land. The first strike, before the great ships of the Crusade descended from the clouds and emerged from the Traveller itself. Their attempt at treachery unmasked, the people of Akallabeth used fire and magic of their own, but it was for naught. The Crusade had come this far. It would not be stopped now.

It had taken a week by her reckoning for the planet's last stronghold to fall. Their last city, she supposed, though without any proper walls or armaments. In shining armour, the Guardians marched through its streets, their powers of the Light overcoming the people's wicked sorcery. She knew that centuries ago, these scenes had been repeated on Earth, when servants of the Darkness ran rampant. How gratifying it was to know that the tides had turned. These creatures of Darkness might be smaller and weaker than the wretched Hive, but still, they were servants of the Great Enemy. The force they had served had offered no mercy as it pursued the Traveller across the stars, so no mercy would be given. So with knight, gun, and even bow, she slew them. The ones who fought. The ones who screamed. The ones who threw down their weapons and begged. She knew that as soon as she turned her back, they would plunge a knife into it. When one was touched by the Darkness, there was no saving you.

Some Guardians couldn't be saved either, their bodies and Ghosts destroyed both. The monsters here had ensured that some of her brothers and sisters would never see the Light of the Traveller again. Would never live to see the moment where the galaxy was united under a single banner, and all traces of the Darkness expunged. Her heart beat ever faster as she and her fellow Guardians cleared out the structure that the aliens fought for. Anger filled her breast as she saw one of her brothers fall to their foes' depravity. He would be resurrected in due course, but many was the number of times she had fallen in battle against the Darkness's servants. And many had not been as lucky as her in returning to the Traveller's service.

It didn't last long. The last creature fought to the last. A monster, sure, but one possessing a spine. Indeed, watching its body fall, she reflected that it had a spine literally as well as metaphorically. The aliens of Akallabeth were humanoid in form – two legs, two arms, two eyes, two ears, one head. The number of fingers differed, and their skin ranged from blue, to green, to orange, but of all the creatures she had encountered over the decades, they were among the most similar to her kind. Which in a way, made them all the more dangerous. As Awoken, she could walk freely among the true sons and daughters of Earth. If these creatures made it to her homeworld, if they could blend in and contaminate it, who was to say what damage they could bring?

But that wouldn't happen now. For in this moment, she, and all the other Guardians, heard the voice of the Traveller. The battle was over. The Darkness was defeated. Akallabeth was theirs. It was not a voice as she, or any human or exo might understand it. It didn't even have words. But they knew the will of the Traveller, and knew that their benefactor was pleased. Following its will led to its satisfaction. And when the Traveller was satisfied, everything was right in the universe. Or at least this world. For there were many others to liberate.

She took off her helmet, as did some of her fellow Guardians. Their names, she couldn't say, but it didn't matter. Their armour told their story, bearing sigils of the worlds they had helped expunge. But-

"That's interesting."

Her Ghost had spoken to her. Interesting. Most of the time it was quiet.

"What is?"

"That mural."

She saw it. Granted, she'd seen it when she and her fellow Guardians had fought their way into this place. It, and many other works that one could mistake as art. Of course, these works were forged by creatures of Darkness, and were thus tainted by their very nature. In order for this world to be fully liberated, all idols to the Darkness had to be removed, from the smallest vase, to the most intricate painting. And yet, looking at the mural, for the first time in a long time, she found herself with pause.

It was large. Beautiful, even. What it actually depicted was fairly simple – a constellation of stars depicting some kind of sky goddess. She extended across the night sky, and was drawn in a way that made her seem benevolent. In one sense, a simple artistic expression. But the size. The detail of every single piece of stone. The way blue, black, and white intermingled, how the mural itself shifted colour from top to bottom. Whoever had created this must have spent years on their creation. It was…she reached a hand towards it.

"Careful," her Ghost said.

She drew her hand back. "Of course," she said.

It was beautiful. But it was tainted. Like everything here, it would have to be destroyed. She turned around and saw her Ghost looking at her, its shifting eye conveying disapproval.

"What?" she asked.

"I just want to make sure that you don't repeat what happened at Laispel."

"You know that would never happen."

"I believe, but I do not know."

"Begone, sprite. My faith is strong."

It was the truth. Laispel…she had failed at Laispel. She'd let some of the creatures there escape, their pleas for mercy reaching her ears and filling them with honey. She had let them go. Flee their world. A few dozen, but that was a few dozen too many. They had been hunted down of course, but it had cost her fellow Guardians time. The Crusade time. She bore no sigil of Laispel, for she could not claim to have taken part in the victory. The Traveller had spoken to her, assured her all was forgiven, but reminded her that when it came to fighting the Darkness, none could afford hesitation. There was the Light, there was the Dark, and nothing in-between.

So she didn't turn around as she headed out of the structure. It would have to be destroyed, like every other monument to depravity on this world. She didn't even turn round as her fellow Guardians began taking pot-shots at the mural. It was beautiful, but beauty was only skin deep. The malignancy that lay at the heart of its creation could only be removed through fire.

She reached the street, and put her helmet back on. The smell of burnt flesh was overpowering otherwise. That, and as she saw a line of children being marched to the transports, it saved her from having to look them in the eye.

"Hail, Guardian."

The one escorting them talked to her.

"Greetings."

What was the woman's name? She supposed it didn't matter. She gestured to the children. "Are they to be saved?"

"One can hope so." She sighed. "Who can say how deep the Darkness reaches? Does their evil begin at birth, or does the corruption come later? We can only hope that the Traveller can save them, that by the grace of the Light, they may find a new world to begin anew."

A new world. She looked around the city. Something had been built here. Built by those touched by the Darkness of course, but still, built. Sometimes, she even wondered-

_No._

No. She couldn't wonder. Not ever. Not even as the children were marched off, iron around their necks, to one of the great ships that would take them to be saved by the Traveller. Weakness and doubt had cost her at Laispel. She could never let that happen again.

After all, she was a Guardian. A Child of the Light. A Servant of the Traveller.

By definition, what she did, what the Light expunged, was for the good of all.


End file.
